WorldCat Local adds availability on brief results, more local, more mobile and more content

13 October 2011

The latest enhancements for WorldCat Local includes availability on brief results, Local Holdings Record searching, article links and branch information for mobile views and more.

The latest additions to the popular discovery and delivery service include the following new member-requested features:

Availability views on brief resultsNow users can see if an item is available from their initial results screens for books, serials and articles. This availability information is always accurate and up-to-the–minute, because WorldCat Local uses a real-time call to a library's OPAC. For additional types of eContent such as eSerials, availability information can be found on the detailed record.

Local Holdings Records now searchableThe ability to search local bibliographic data through WorldCat Local was added in June 2011. Now, Local Holdings Records (LHRs) are also searchable. LHRs are separate holdings records attached to a related WorldCat bibliographic record that provide local holdings details beyond the OCLC institution symbol, such as a call number or special collection designation.

The ability to display and now search local holdings information ensures that user discovery will support the years of valuable local data entries made by library staff members. When a library adds its local data to a WorldCat Local site, it is available only to users of that site, and will not display to other WorldCat Local library sites.

Article links, branch information now available for mobile useMobile views for WorldCat Local now support access to articles and online links, in addition to monographs. This feature is available to institutions that have loaded information into the WorldCat knowledge base, which is available at no additional charge for OCLC cataloging members. In addition, information on branch campuses and public library branches are now also available via the mobile views for WorldCat Local libraries.